SIMI VALLEY : 2 More Find Knife Blades in Car Seats

Two more Simi Valley women have reported finding utility knife blades in their car seats, raising the number of victims reporting such crimes in Ventura County to 14, police said Thursday.

The suspect in the assaults, Gary Jean Muntifering, 53, is scheduled to be arraigned Monday in Ventura County Municipal Court.

He was transferred to the sheriff’s station in Thousand Oaks on Thursday, after being arrested in Burbank late Tuesday. Muntifering was being held in lieu of $250,000 on suspicion of 14 counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Two cases were also reported in Burbank, but one victim left before police arrived to take a report.

Simi Valley Detective Bill Daniels said nine of the 14 Simi Valley victims suffered cuts as a result of sitting on the knife blades. Most of the injuries were minor, but several of the women sought medical treatment and received tetanus shots, he said.

All of the victims were women between the ages of 17 and 32.

Daniels said Muntifering apparently approached unlocked cars in large parking lots, made a slit in the car seat then inserted the blades until they were “protruding about an inch.”

Muntifering was arrested after Burbank police spotted him “casing” the parking lot of a K mart about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, officials said. Officers found dozens of utility knife blades, which are heavier and larger than razor blades, in his pickup truck along with a .22-caliber revolver, Burbank police said.

Daniels said Muntifering matches the suspect description given by two witnesses.

Police have not determined a motive for the crimes and Muntifering has refused to answer questions from detectives, officials said.

Muntifering’s last known address was in Ventura. Daniels said police suspect he may have been living out of his pickup truck because of the amount of clothes and other property in the vehicle.